madagascar_fandomfandomcom-20200214-history
The Temptress -- By: MysteryGirl
Auntie Salasi (the old squirrel that had guarded an evil treasure for 100 years) is distraut when she finds that the key itself had survived along with the rats. What's worse, her apprentice (Duchess Lucinda) had got a hold of that key thinking its now a harmless relic... unaware she's wrong. A she-devil named Lo-Sheiba (meaning "No Promises", fitting for the rat-goddess of temptation) is trapped in the key's eyes, reduced to using her power to leave treasure-hunters helpless to there own greed, and will do anything to escape now that the treasure is no longer a tool. With Lucinda and her twin brother, the "pure-hearted" King Julien, being opposites in every angle, Salasi fears that Lo-Sheiba might use the young lemur-lady's dream of being human as a pawn, but is it already too late? Prologue: A tale of Salasi (the mystic), Cama Lo-Sheiba (the temptress), and Xantros (the golden squirrel). "Only the pure of heart can look into the squirrels eyes and see the truth... alas to the blackest of black souls, for the evil within will be unleashed from both ends, and such a victim would have to find the strength to resist oneself as well as the Temptress, if to undo the damage that has been done." (When Fred read these writings, he said he can only make out part of it. This was most likely what the whole thing was.) It is such a shame that Fred can only make out part of the scripture of the key of the lost treasure... if one can call that empty promise a "treasure", for if one did get all that gold and jewels and escaped with them as well as his own life, and spent them on all the things they think they need to be happy, he'd fail to see the truth... he'd hail to see that life's pleasures are soon deprived of meaning if you have no longing and gratitude for what they already obtain. I was a pure heart myself a long time ago, centuries before the Centennial Time-Capsule that held the key for ages was even made, let alone buried. I was the pet of a Welsh Alchemist then, who used to come up with several tonics in attempt to find a formula for longevity... the ability to live forever, or at least seem to. He poisoned himself on his latest attempt, and I took a similar-yet-more-affective risk to fix it, but it was too late, as he asked in his will for his funeral to be a cremation. My formula was burned as well, as I figured that, if he lived to see it, he would've made me swear, under pact, to secrecy. Over the decades, I've outlived my own kind, but at at a horrible price: you see, I was no longer a regular female squirrel, but a lady-sage... Though mortal enough to be part of this world, strange forces of several kinds kept becoming me into Xibalba, the spirit world, where I was assumed at the time to belong. Several demons chased after me, leaving me to walk the earth more so then any drifter before, and perhaps more-so then the generations to follow, but none had haunted me as frequently as Cama Lo-Sheiba, who is more commonly entitled "The Temptress". Many say that Lo-Sheiba was the bride of the Demon Master of the underworld, and others say she is the mother of the very serpent that lured the first humans to disobedience of the creator, dooming them to exile from paradise, and all other species to chaos of what is now called "sin". One thing is sure, the mother of the snake, ironically, was a rat, a she-rat, whose name means "no promises", as in none kept at full price. Those who get what they want from her always lose what they had... their souls, there innocence, there worth, everything, and every remark about the so-called "Eye of the Beholder" almost always referred to her eyes, as anyone knows (at least in my day) that a sightless demon is a powerless demon. She's able to see into souls, and know the desires of all who look at her face to face, and had always reflected the visions she found back at them, but I seen her work without allowing myself to fall victim to it myself, and learned what she is truly capable of... every vision a distraction, especially when she followed me to America during the Revolutionary War (back when New York City was a small town), as behind every great desire hidden an even greater fear, one that she sought out every time for her own amusement. Fears that she unlocked to influence those who saw what they want to see, as to assure they want those things even more. Each was powerless to resist, and was consumed by there greed, which caused bad to turn to worse, even after the war was over to the humans. This kept up, until 106 years before this day, when I met Xantros. American with a British accent, and his fur was as blond as the wheat back home in the old country, and his eyes where dark in color yet bright in character. He was a bit of what you might refer to as an "oddball" however, as he considered human-problems like the national debt to be his responsibility even though his relatives told him again and again to let people take care of themselves. He had stored several golden artifacts as the rest of our kind did acorns, and combining that detail with his natural coloration is why Xantros Squirrel became better known as The Golden Squirrel. Everyone tried to be his friend to get a hold of his fortune, which he constantly reminded was reserved for the people, but I loved him for him, and I proven it by setting up several traps to insure those with shady-intentions don't spoil things for the purpose he had in mind... such a shame that, over the years, he fell in love with another girl-squirrel (and a red-headed one too), which had me consumed with envy. You would think that after that, I would've seen that poser as falcon-food when Lo-Sheiba finally managed to find me and trap me with her eyes, but instead I seen a vision that meant more to me then that: Seeing Xantros is happy; something I already had. Disgusted with that, Lo-Sheiba panicked with realization that she had no power over me, and I only needed one small coin to turn that she-devil into a statue, one that I reshaped into the likeness of Xantros' bride-to-be... but that was only as a joke then. Alas, she refused to be overpowered and let the gold glaze her eyes, for they turned into jewels instead. I removed the face of the idol I made, to insure it's true form never surfaces, and put that false-squirrel's likeness onto a new head, attached to a key with my inscription. The key itself, and the curse that came with it, was my last and most powerful attempt to protect the treasure he had high hopes for, which only after did I discover, as just before his wedding (100 years ago), provoking the power of the Temptress for any reason, even a good one, had turned an innocent vault for charity into a dangerous, most alluring target to lesser hearts. The rats of that generation didn't recognized there own goddess, but they felt her presence inside the key, and her energies as well when they found out what it was for, but the clues where already hidden, and the traps were already set. The marriage had to be postponed when Xantros used the gift I gave him a bit early, and I laughed when they fought against each other long enough for the bride and wedding guests to escape the danger... alas, the rats stopped only on realizing that fighting over treasure when you don't know where it even is can be pointless, even a waste of time, but only figured that only after Xantros had a ten-second head start as he ran with that key. I followed in secret, in case he needed me, but despite being foolish he proved cleaver enough to hold his own against the rats, he even used the keys eyes on the rats a second time to put them in a stand-still when they grabbed him, and only one of them was awake enough to witness Xantros brake free of his restraints and hide that key into the Centennial Time-Capsule. The next day, Xantros finished his wedding and, recalling the thing that kept the key from the rats then, began to realize that humans can indeed take care of themselves, and figured they can find there own way out of their debt from all those wars. He knew how old I really was, figured how much longer I would be, and had me promise that the treasure and its curse was destroyed forever on the year the time-capsule opens. Figuring I can keep what I crave most this way, I made my vow. Recalling my own writing, and my immunity, I figured it would be easy, and went to the remains of Lo-Sheiba's statue-form to gloat about it... ... long story short, it was a mistake, as an even ghostlier version of that rat-goddess' original, non-squirrelly face poured out of that statue, lunged at me in the chest, right between the shoulders, and the next thing I knew, everything had gone... BLACK! I woken up, goodness knows how long I was out. One thing was sure, day turned to night. As I got up, I had to feel myself over for scars, and though I was convinced, at first, that Cama Lo-Sheiba's attack was only a nightmare after finding none, something was a bit off... my chest had less weight in it as I picked myself up, and when I felt there for injury, I notice I couldn't find a pulse either. Then it hit me... Cama Lo-Sheiba had stolen my heart, the one purity I had, and no doubt hidden it to have her revenge! If not for my long-life serum, which I hope to never make again, such an attack would've killed me then and there, but in waiting 100 years to live up to my word (which I now figured difficult, as one can't be pure-of-heart with no heart at all) I figured that, by the time it ever wears off, I'd be unable to complete my one-way trip to a decent afterlife unless that part of me was restored, and until then, I'd be nothing but a lost soul... a restless spirit that haunts over that cursed treasure... I found how true that theory of mine was when another pure-heart, a lemur-king named Julien (who was less-so in the mind then I was in my time) had been found, and though his handy-work, through realization that he already has what he wants most, I had kept my promise, and my unfinished business fulfilled... except for the matter of reclaiming my own heart. Destroying the treasure indeed broke the curse once and for all, but not so much the source of such black-magic, as the only piece of treasure this generations rats managed to escape with and live was the head of the key itself, and its eyes, alas, glow with more power then ever, as Cama is eager to escape, and the only way is for someone to complete the statue, which is why I fear the worst of Lucinda, my apprentice and Julien's twin-sister who, despite lack of gold when she took the key from the rats, clearly has the greediest desire of all... a desire to become something she is not! -Salasi Squirrel First Act: Wants and Needs "I'm telling you, Amy," Duchess Lucinda told her human cousin on one of her secret visits, "compared to my usual humanization dreams, this one was totally real... except for the part with my pendents still fitting me. If I had indeed make such a change, they would've either choked me or snapped right off my neck. No matter, everything in that vision was perfect. A wardrobe that fits Temari Kaminarimon's profile, and I was offered all the best outfits in the city for it, as though they thought I looked childish for my age... with the facial I was molded into, I'd have looked great in just about anything. After I got a little 'shopping' done, I was escorted all over Manhattan to the best places around. Everything looked better then I recalled upon realizing the 'No Pets Allowed' sign lost it's power on me, especially the Planetarium and the Museum of Natural History... it was a genuine riot to hear the tour guide scream when I took over the educational parts of the Evolution of Earthly Minerals Exhibit! Then I went to a restaurant... not one of the phony-baloney's that we animals make out of the dumpsters, but a real one, La Ritz, in fact, and I got the best first-class table there... who would've known that they'd know I wanted to hear classy jazz? Oh! That reminds me, the next thing I noticed after paying the bill was that I was dressed up in a much livelier dress then earlier and... hear this... I actually accepted an invite to a party, a masquerade in fact! The shyness in my I hidden well which held me back anyway was completely gone, and I almost didn't have enough control to keep myself from admitting I was really an animal... almost. What's more, my clumsy steps and spins were fixed up too. I was actually the best groover at the entire hullabaloo, so good in fact, that every hunk of man there was on there knees begging me to be his dance partner, but I only had my eyes for one guy. You'd pass him off easy as a James Bond wannabe but, seeing the abacus he's been toying around with, I knew better. He and I were both actually thanked by the NYPD for all the times we helped them, as the chief recognized us for what we really were and sworn to secrecy. He even gave us jobs at at Interpol after the final dance was done, can you believe it...?" "Easy Duchess!" Amy scolded, "Excitement or not, you get as bad as Chester sometimes. Just get to the last thing that happened before you woke up." "That's kinda the other weird part," the young lemur confessed, "I don't even remember falling asleep. Recap: It seemed real. I came out of it the same way I came in; staring..." "Into space, huh? There's a term for that, Little Miss Know-it-All: daydreaming!" Zeke laughed at that (he has such a girly giggle for a boy of six years), and Duchess Felt offended. "Nonsense Amy!" She yelled, "Non-sence! You know that don't loose touch with reality that badly!" "You had been eating cookie dough again," Zeke asked, "didn't you? Don't worry, we left the skateboard tracks on the ceiling from last time for you to clean up, to insure you show some control, and while you are at it, you can race go-carts with me around the Half-way house. Man! I can't wait until you loose! I already got the giggles from seeing you kiss my..." Ahem! Amy wasn't going to hear what she knew what really was coming out. "What?!" Zeke said (trying to cover his tracks), "I was gonna say 'wrist'!" "Just finish cleaning your room, Pipsqueak!" Amy said, "Duchess, why don't you bring your visit to the basement? I'm sure those so-called 'Blood Sisters' would love to hear all about your vision." "Hemona, Cerculita, and Plateliette? But you always say that those fruit-bats were dig-bats!" "Exactly." Duchess Lucinda was down-hearted that she chose this time to visit her cousins, especially since the annual scout candy sell-off was just around the corner. (Such memories... she used to be the mascot for Amy Dehauntedo and the other Brownie Scouts and, since lemurs weren't part of the zoo then, her "animal magnetism" always helped to outsell the boy Goblin Scouts by a long-shot!) With Amy so busy preparing, she's to stressed to hear a lemur out to mention an unusual artifact that opened her eyes to how extraordinary human life could really be! The Blood Sisters are fortunetellers, the little duchess thought on the way downstairs, maybe they'd know something about this jeweled head. Auntie Sala seemed to, but she didn't explain anything... just told me to destroy it and teleported out of of reach. I'd follow her with the same power, but I wasn't in uniform. Doing it undisguised is most probable to be noticed; I can't figure out what helps her manage it... how old is she anyway? Appearently, foretunetelling includes mind reading, as the moment she was in their special room of the basement, they were already giving answers before she could ask: "Ah yes, it's been awhile since any considedered asking about Salasi the gaurdian."Cerculita grinned. Plateliette grinned in agreement "Isn't she turning 476 years old soon?" "Not until tomarrow dear sister," sighed Hemona, "by the way, it is only for the best you to sheild your eyes... I hear the voice of a demon in the bag our guest carries. Who is your little succubi, Duchess? Why don't you tell me?" "There is no demon I know of," Duchess Lucinda explained as she took the key out of her bag, "it's only a harmless relic that I took from the rats, that Salasi told me to get rid of, and I was hoping you can tell me." "Harmelss relic indeed!" Whispered Cerculita and Plateliette, as Hemona used her "pychic" sonar to examine the face of the squirrel-head further. "A most cleaver trick!" She said, at last, "using the image of a squirrel to hide the likeness of an intirely different rodent all together! If my ears are right on the mark, it would seem that it's the disinbodied head of an ancient Rodechian idol of the dark arts... Cama Lo-Sheiba, most likely." "Cama Lo-who-huh?" asked Lucinda. "The rat goddess of... temptation." Hemona explained, "Legends had it that she caused so much disaster with her empty promices, mostly by luring many into an untimely death, that she was, how its here-said, 'kicked-out' of Xibalba forever. That wasn't even the half of it, if you ask Sala... you did aready and she didn't answer?" The sisters spoke in unison: "Typical of one deprived of deep feeling, and is focused mainly on keeping this demon under control with little if any recall that some things used for evil cannot be used for forces of good. One may not believe she as once Pure of Heart, as she now has no heart at all, form one curse born of another. Be noticed that sometimes the way out of a matter is the path back in, and even a coincidence has a purpose. Also, may you not forget that the deepest secrets cannot be anything more then a surfice as you deturmine the things one wants are not to overpower what one needs. Life is but mist, and we all must fade as it does, and only those willing to avoid getting lost can turn darkness into light." Soon enough, Duchess Lucinda was alone. Obviously, they flown off to purch themselves for the day. I don't know what bothers me more, She thought, how they got into my head like that, or that their riddles are the only ones I had never been able to solve. The young duchess was about to leave when she noticed items in the Blood Sisters' seats, all pointed to the "cursed" attifact she brought... a Renesance-style headband, a staff with beads tied to the handle, and a robe of sorts... all to big for her. she found paperscraps under each, but them together and read: RETURN THESE AFTER YOU FIND THE FOSSIL FOR OUR OLD FOSSIL! Only one word crossed her mind reading that... "weird!" Second Act: An Amber Heart ---- END OF ARTICLE ---- Category:Fan-Fic Category:Fan-Art